New Brunswick this week released a “5-year roadmap” for hydrogen development, predicting that the strategy will make the province a clean-energy powerhouse.
Hydrogen will be an element in a future energy system that emits fewer GHGs. However the government’s plan misses the mark. Here’s CRED-NB’s initial analysis:
- Electricity and heat pumps are a far cheaper solution to heating buildings than hydrogen.
- It is far better & cheaper for transportation to be muscle or battery powered. Green hydrogen is too expensive except for flight and long-distance shipping.
- Hydrogen is hard to contain so exporting it will be difficult. That’s why most hydrogen is produced close to where it is used.
- Green hydrogen (produced by renewable energy) can be a clean back-stop to wind and solar electricity generation but the priority should be using more efficient storage.
- Green hydrogen must be made with wind power to keep the cost down. There will be no market, local or export, for hydrogen made with nuclear power as it will be far too expensive.
CRED-NB spokesperson Tom McLean got a few words in about this during a CTV clip about the government’s plan the day it was launched. Watch it HERE.